One known type of postage meter has a housing with settable value wheels rotatably mounted therein. The value wheels have die surfaces extending a determined distance through a window in the housing. In this postage meter, a platen is adapted to convey a mail piece, such as an envelope, into engagement with the die surfaces of the value wheels exposed from the housing. In such an arrangement it is necessary to provide means for insuring that the die surfaces of the value wheels are exposed only during a print cycle, in order to ensure that all postage printed by the machine is properly and accurately accounted.
In such mechanisms, at present there exists two arrangements for protecting the die surfaces of the value wheels from printing unaccounted postage. One of these is comprised of a series of die protector bars which protrude between the value print wheels. At all times other than a print cycle, these die protector bars are locked in a position sufficiently below the print surface to prevent printing of the value wheel characters.
The other arrangement consists of a shield which completely covers the exposed value wheels and all other print elements. At all times other than a print cycle, this shield is locked in a home position covering the print plane.